Hang on to me
by TheSheps
Summary: A Story based on E4's Nearly Famous What if Owen had followed through with his threat to handcuff Lila to his wrist…
1. Chapter 1

**Hang on to me.**

DISCLAIMER; I don not own Nearly Famous or any of its characters

SUMMARY; What if Owen had followed through with his threat to handcuff Lila to his wrist…

_"I'll handcuff you to my wrist and drag you to classes if I have to. Admittedly it could be slightly impractical when it comes to eating, bathing, going to the toilet…but I'll do it anyway."_

**NFNFNFNFNFNFNFNFNFNFNF**

Lila walked out of the hospital in a daze. She had finally confrontied her mother about having a life of her own. It was past dawn and she was exhausted, looking forward to getting back to college and crashing on her bed, _maybe visit Owen if he's still awake_. As she finished this thought she looked up to find the person in question sitting on the bench in front of her, looking out over the car park and ambulance bay,

"Owen?"

Walking over to him Lila couldn't help but notice that even after being awake all night he looked none the worse for it. He did however look to be hiding something and wore and expression that was a mix of his usually swagger and a hint of fear and desperation,

"Lila, you have to come back. I won't let you quit." He said this matter-of-fact as though he was entirely in control of the situation and Lila would just have to follow. She smiled,

"I'm not quitting"

"I swore I would make you – what?!"

As they spoke in unison Lila started to notice that desperation had become more pronounced on his face and that he was hiding something behind his back. Now his expression was giving way to delight…though his hands still had not appeared.

"Seriously?! You mean it? You're not just saying that and I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and find you gone?"

The worry in his voice made Lila's stomache flip slightly as she realised he would truly miss her if she were gone.

"I mean it. Honestly Owen, my mum…she…she said forever….and I just couldn't do that…I can't…I mean I love her but –"

As she started to ramble and the weight of everything started to press down on her Lila became aware of two leather clad arms enveloping her in a crushing hug as a voice next to her ear whispered,

"It's not your fault Lila. You've got to have your own life too. You're doing the best you can. You are the best person I know, and I hardly even know you yet! I can't imagine what other amazing things you are hiding!"

"But I'm not doing enough am I? I am a horrible person! I – "

As she tried to pull away a dart inside back to her mother Owen held her tighter and growled,

"Don't you dare! Don't you _dare_ try to leave!"

Unable to escape his vice grip Lila took to focusing on calming down, trying to let Owen calm her down, though his rapid breathing and the tightness in which he held her belayed a less that calm feeling coming from her friend.

"Owen? I'm not…I'm staying…I'm staying"

As she repeated this phrase Owen started to release her and in doing so poked her in the back with, what must have been, the object of which he had originally been hiding and forgotten about in his rush to grab on to her. Even now he did not seem aware that the object was, at that moment, giving her spine a sharp prod.

"Ow!"

"What?! Lila I'm sorry did I hurt you?! I'm sorry! It's just I didn't want you to leave and – "

Lila started laughing as Owen pulled away to ramble his apologies with open, pleading hands, revealing what appeared to be, a pair of handcuffs. Looking down with a puzzled expression as to what could make her laugh, Owen too started to laugh as he held them up,

"Well I did say I would handcuff you to my wrist."

"I though you were joking! I mean you weren't really going to do it…were you?"

"If you hadn't been coming back then yeah, I would"

"You couldn't! Owen you would have got in trouble!"

"If you weren't coming with me I would! You are not leaving Lila!"

"But…you weren't serious..I mean…Owen you will be fine without me…"

"_Will_ be? What do you mean 'will be'?"

"No! I didn't mean – I don't mean – I am coming back Owen honest! I just meant that if you…ever do have to cope there without me…then you'll be fine. That's all"

"But I won't Lila! You, Me, Kate, Joe... we seem to be the only non-shit people at that college Lila, and without you…"

"Owen, it's only been a few days, you can't know that!"

"Well I don't have to now do I?"

During the exchange Owen had moved closer to Lila so that their faces were only inches apart so Lila could see the fear in his eyes. Smiling nervously Lila rubbed his arm,

"No, you don't. Now stop panicking and put those away!" She couldn't help but giggle as she realised the handcuffs were still in plain view of people passing by, that, accompanied by the almost solid knowledge that she was important to someone (no matter how deranged she thought they were, or how quickly she worried those feelings may change) had caused a rush of giddiness to overcome her and she found herself grinning stupidly as Owen again looked down and smiled sheepishly.

"Out of curiosity, just how exactly were you going to pull that off? I doubt Dominic would go for 'It's a bonding exercise'"

Owen laughed as he played with them in his hand and stated,

"I hadn't thought that far"

"Uh-huh"

Owen's smile started to turn indignant,

"You really didn't think I would do it?!"

"Owen it was a dramatic statement, you're not supposed to carry them out, it's supposed to be a kind of – it's the though that counts kinda thing – hey!!"

_click_

As Lila stared at her wrist, now encased in a metal circlet, she couldn't help but wonder just how sane this boy was. Glancing up at his face she found not a smirk as expected, but a steely resolve that had her heart speeding up in excitement and anxiety,

"Owen?"

Looking down she saw, sure enough, his wrist encase in the other side of the handcuffs.

"Please tell me you have those keys…"

"nope"

"What?"

"Joe has them."

"Joe is in on this? What Kate too?!"

"More like they were aware that I was planning it, I mean, I needed Joe's car, and they decided not to stop me."

"Decided? Or were persuaded?"

Owen sighed and avoided Lila's glare, "A bit of both."

Staring increadulously as the boy who only a few hours ago Lila would have loved to be stuck so near, she sputtered, "but we can't go back like this! Owen this wasn't something I was daring you to do!"

Entwining their handcuffed hands together with a sincere smile Owen replied,

"I know but it appeared my new friend needed convincing just how far I would go to keep her near."

"Friend?"

"Yeah well I wouldn't do this for a classmate would I?"

Feeling both disheartened and buoyed Lila looked down again at their hands. "Um…how long exactly were you planning to keep this up?"

Owen grinned like he had just won the battle, Lila frowned realising she had inadvertently just agreed to this insanity, "well for the rest of today for definite"

"Owen! We have classes!"

"My point exactly, your important Lila, whether you like it or not."

"Our classes start at nine, its five!"

Moving in to her ear and whispering low enough to make a shiver pass down her spine Owen replied "Well I'm planning on going to bed", and leaning back winked and her.

"Bed?"

"Yep"

"Your bed?" Lila could almost swear his eyes darkened as she said that, and then it was gone and he smiled and pulled her in the direction of the car park,

"Yeah Lila, my bed."

Aware that the shiver still appeared to be lodged at the base of her spine Lila sighed shakily and allowed herself to be dragged alone by the cuff.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note**; Sorry it's been so long, lost notebooks and my life going to hell do not make good muses! The long awaited chapter 2, for those of you who have reviewed/waited/continue to read/added me to favourites – THANK YOU!

**Disclaimer;** not mine!

**Hang on to me**

Driving with handcuffs proved to be a bit of a challenge, particularly when it came to changing gear. Luckily Lila was handcuffed to the right of Owen, unluckily, Owen was left-handed…

"How are you going to write notes in class? How will you play guitar? What about when our classes clash? How are we supposed to be in two places at once?"

Lila's nervousness at the thought of sharing a bed with Owen had translated into mild hysteria that was showing itself in a form of extreme babbling. Owen to his credit, had taken it in his stride and was merely focusing on getting them back to the college in one piece while letting her vent, the smirk on his face made Lila wonder is he knew the real reason she was so worked up, and if he did, how did he know her so well already?

"Owen!"

Smiling at her, Owen merely squeezed her hand, which was in easy reach thanks to a metal chain, and replied,

"Relax Lila, We'll figure it out as we go yeah? Right now getting sleep it my top priority."

It was then that Lila realised they had arrive back and college and Owen had turned off the engine and was waiting for her to move. He obviously expected her to get out the car the way he put her in, by pulling her across his lap in what Lila believe to be a very unnecessary way. Glaring at him this time Lila grumbled,

"Why don't you just get out of the car and I'll follow?"

Sighing and tugging on her wrist a little Owen replied,

" 'Cause I'm not pulling you out the car and I'm not climbing over the gear stick"

"Oh so I have to?"

"Lila!"

Attempting to fold her arms – difficult when one has an extra body attached to it - Lila waited for Owen to move.

"Fine!"

Getting out of the car in one swift motion Owen sent Lila stumbling across the interior of the car in order to keep her hand, as she tumbled out of the car however she found herself grabbed by one arm, the other reaffirming its attachment to her handcuffed hand. Righting her balance Lila looked up with the intention of telling Owen off, only to find him staring at her the darkness of his eyes much more apparent. Lila was suddenly very aware of Owen's arm wrapped around her body, and of the fact that thanks to the handcuffs, the chance of getting much distance between them to cool off was very slim. Lila suddenly found herself not as adverse to the handcuffs as before, being close to Owen was definitely not a bad thing. Clearing his throat and flushing slightly, Owen muttered and apology before shaking himself off,

"Right, I do believe bed was the next destination." And he set of in the direction of the dorms, seemingly unaware that his hand, attached to Lila by way of a metal handcuff, was in fact still attached by their intertwined fingers. Just when Lila thought he had just not realised with the metal keeping those hands close anyway, Owen began to stroke her hand lightly as he walked, smiling to himself and avoiding her eye.

Upon entering the student halls and heading for Owen's room Lila had a thought and instead of following, turned left towards her own room, Owen now being tugged behind.

"Uh… Lila? My room is that way"

Lila continued to walk ignoring Owen's remark and the fact that he was now beginning to slow and pull her behind,

"Yeah but your room contains a sleeping bag for a cover."

Owen sighed, "Well if you have to be girly about your need of a particular type of covering."

Lila found herself grinning at him, "Well my girly habits match my girly hang out places. Plus I need pyjamas."

Owen had been smiling as she started her comment but had stopped now outside her room with a full-blown smirk on his face,

"Pyjamas?" He wriggled their joined wrists, "and how exactly are you going to put those on?"

Lila blushed as she realised that even if she could figure out how to change, she would be doing so in front of Owen.

"Um…well…. you know this is a really bad idea, I think we should just go get the keys off Joe."

Lila started turning round to head for Joe's room, instead she found herself spinning back and through her own bedroom door.

"Owen!"

"Lila it is 5.40 in the morning, do you really want to wake up Joe? Come on we can sleep in your girly bed if we have to. But we _are_ sleeping now, not dragging each other around the building."

Lila glanced at him suspiciously, "Does that mean you are going to let me go in the morning?"

Owen turned and attempted to pout, "Lila you make it sound like you hate spending time with me."

"No! I love…I mean…I like spending time with you"

As Lila stuttered she found Owen watching her carefully, as though he was looking for something, or trying to figure something out. _Please don't let him figure it out!_

He smiled slightly at her and turned back towards the bed,

"Well then tomorrow you'll just have to like it some more."

"Owen!"

Owen smiled at her and then pulled her towards the bed and sat down on the edge. Lila shivered; suddenly this wasn't just cute banter anymore. She couldn't help but wonder why this was such a big deal to her. It obviously wasn't to Owen who was starting to try to get comfy. She felt like she had the maturity of a ten year old as she lay down next to him, kicking off her boots. Lying side by side did not appear comfortable to either of them but Lila refused to try to move onto her side like she wanted to.

"Roll over"

The command from next to her was ended with a nudge to her shoulder,

"I can't!"

Instead of answering Owen rolled her to the side so that his arm was draped over her, cuffed wrists still comfortable side by side, he pulled her closer to him and whispered in her ear,

"Relax Lila, I don't bite, not unless you want me to."

She could feel the smirk against her hair. Sighing she tried to relax against him and found it surprisingly easy. She was shocked to find that he also seemed to feel perfectly at home holding her the way he was as his breathing began to even out. Feeling her eyes start to droop, Lila fell asleep enjoying the warm feeling that seemed to radiate from Owen into the pit of her stomach.

As sunshine beamed into her eyes Lila awoke to three things. One, she never woke up to the sun shining in her room, two there was a incessant knocking coming from somewhere, and three, Owen was now wrapped so firmly around her that she couldn't move even if she wanted, which she didn't. Owens other arm had somehow worked its way under her head and was holding her uncuffed hand tightly, his legs were now tangled with hers, the handcuffed hand hovering dangerously close to her chest having somehow worked its way under her top. The banging became louder as Owen groaned into her neck, Lila was aware of the fact he was almost buried in her hair as he began to move. Groaning again he shifted his arm so that it now gripped her ribs before it sprang away,

"Shit! Lila sorry!"

He raised his head so he could see her and she found herself grinning at him to ease the tension,

"Well at least you didn't bite."

He grinned and relaxed before falling into the pillow again and squeezing their other hands.

"Hmm…what time is it?"

"Shit class!"

As she tried to sit up Lila pulled Owen with her causing them to almost topple from the bed.

"Easy Lila, it wont be that late, I feel like I just went to sleep."

Even as he said this the knocking on the door became banging as a second set of fists seemed to join the first,

"We can hear you in there! Open Up!"

Looking at each other in confusion Lila and Owen attempted to get up to answer Kate's hollered demand. After a few stumbles and a slight giggle from Lila they opened the door to a flustered Kate and Joe on the other side.

"Thank fuck! We spent 15 minutes banging on your door first, if you hadn't started making noise in there we were going to go back to the hospital!"

"Sorry Kate, we didn't realise – "

"So you had to use the handcuffs then?" Kate had noticed that attached limbs and was now staring at Lila accusingly,

"You really weren't going to come back without them?"

"No I was! I am, Owen just…"

"Owen just decided to have some security on that matter, and prove a point to Lila" As Owen interceded he smiled down at Lila before glancing up at Kate to continue,

"She needed to know that we weren't gona let her leave."

Joe was grinning from ear to ear as he looked a Lila, ignoring that handcuffs completely it seemed,

"So you are staying then? Even without Owen's 'extreme measures that are completely necessary if I have to'"

Lila stared at Owen, who was now avoiding her eye,

"You said that?"

Glaring at Joe before quickly glancing at her he replied,

"I basically said that to you last night didn't I? How come when Joe says it you think I mean it more?"

Nudging him with her elbow to show her appreciation, Lila then turned to Joe as she continued,

"Well you've proved your point, and now Joe can unlock us."

"No I don't think I've proved my point enough actually. I do believe I said I would 'drag you to classes' and I haven't done that yet."

"Owen! You cant! I'm staying! I promise, but if you do that then we'll both be leaving! Joe!"

Lila turned to him pleadingly, but it was Kate who answered with a smile,

"Actually no you won't"

Owen, who had been about to argue further, turned to Kate with a look of confusion.

"After you left to go back to the hospital me an' Joe started taking and…" Kate looked to Joe to continue,

"…And we thought of a way Owen could drag you back, it wouldn't last long but would buy us time to convince you to stay…"

"But I'm staying!", Lila was starting to get annoyed that no one seemed to believe her when she said that.

"We know that now but we've kinda set our plan into motion. Joe doesn't have the key."

"WHAT?"

Lila gaped at her two new friends in shock, Owen strangely just seemed amused.

"Well we thought that if Lila was trying an experiment for her writing then Dominic might let it continue, but just to make sure we gave him the key stating that you couldn't have it until you had finished you writing piece."

Lila gaped at them, "What is my piece? How to be driven crazy by someone?"

Owen's smirk had started to annoy her and now it just got bigger,

"Now Lila, that not what you said last night." He winked at her as Kate looked at her sharply,

"Did something happen with you two then?"

"No! He's just joking."

Lila blushed as this time Owen did give her a funny look, unsure what to do with a look like that from him Lila decided to get back to the matter at hand,

"What did you tell Dominic?"

Although Owen was still gazing at her funny Lila focused on Joe,

"We said you were trying to take in the meaning of the phrase 'joined at the hip' and how others perceived it and that the handcuffs were a way to make sure there was no cheating."

"And Owen agreed to help you to show he was able to 'work well with others'" ,Kate grinned.

Lila found the fake assignment sounded somewhat believable and even kind of interesting and so decided to go with it. Owen didn't seem to mind the situation he had put them in and Lila found herself looking forward to more time with just the two of them.

Owen seemed to have perked up as he saw that Lila was agreeing again and turned to her smiling,

"Well then roomie, shall we head to class?"

"Shit the meeting!"

As Kate's exclamation all eyes turned to her, " Dominic has called a meeting for something, it started two minutes ago!"

Owen tugged Lila back into the room to grab their shoes before the four set off at a run to get to the auditorium.


End file.
